My Very First Accident - Can anyone advise me?

[Materialnut]

Ok heres what happened!! I was driving down a main road when a vehicle came from a side road who didn't look like they had any plans to stop. By the time i had realised this i couldn't do much more but brake and swerve out of the way however was unsuccessful. The vehicle hit my rear side and has taken a huge chunk out of a spoke on my alloy and has scuffed a little of my bumper which doesn't look too bad however i haven't assessed it properly yet. I stopped and so did he and we exchanged details - him his company details and number and number plate etc and me my address and phone number etc. i asked him what he thought he was doing and he said that he admitted he was coming down the hill quite fast and that there was a blind spot at the bottom of the road anyway and so apologised for this. He then inspected my car and i did the same to his. I informed him i was going to go home and assess the damage and then call him to inform him of how much damage was actually done. he then replied that it was his works van and so he will need to speak to his boss to decide what to do re going through insurance company etc. have i done the right thing and do i notify my insurance company etc? this is my first accident so i dont really know what to do. I know that i was in the right but he came accross as if it was both our faults despite what he said about going to fast and there being a blind spot in his way?? can anyone advise??

[MJDale]

On a side issue - MNKO - no one can 'flash you to say go' - the flashing of a vehicle's headlights merely means 'I am here' - it is in the Highway Code. The vehicle flashed it's lights and you interpreted it incorrectly - it may well have been that the driver of that vehicle was signalling to someone else. Maybe if the car was full of plumbers, rather than people who happened to be police officers, you wouldn't - for some strange reason - feel so obviously bitter and aggrieved about the incident but there again I dare say that plumbers or any other group of people known to each other and bonded together by a common cause will 'stick together' - as you put it - as well!

[Materialnut]

Thanks MJDale - I now have a courtesy car anyway and the insurance company are going to deal with it all now just like everyone has advised - I'm just waiting for my little car to come back to me nice and healthy!! what a palava!